1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved artificial intraocular lens assembly used for the correction of aphakia and more particularly to an intraocular lens assembly having an improved stave and loop arrangement designed for mounting of the lens assembly in the anterior chamber of an eye.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is well aware of the use of artificial intraocular lens implants to produce stable retinal images with stable space localization. One of the common reasons for removing the natural lens of a patient is the condition of lenticular disease known as a cataract. The desirability of replacing the natural lens with an artificial lens to obviate the condition of aphakia is well known in the medical profession and has been in practice for a period of time. The prior art has developed a large number of lenses of different designs for surgical implantation in the anterior or posterior chamber of the eye.
Such prior art lenses are disclosed in the Richard U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,825; Fedorov U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,054; Krasnov U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,728; Richard U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,073, Richard U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,626; Fedorov U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,616; Potthast U.S. Pat. No. 3,913,148; Otter U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,551; Jensen U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,027; Flom U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,249, Krasnov U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,214 and in Flom U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,426. Additional disclosures concerning intraocular lens assemblies suitable for surgical implantation in the eye can be found in Scharf's German Pat. No. 959,314, Dannheim's German Printed Application No. 1,034,325, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine Volume 58 Pages 729-731, Sept. 1965; and in the book "A Lens For All Seasons" by Gerald L. Tannant, published August 1976, pages 19-21, 41-29.
It will be readily understood that the surgical introduction of an artificial intraocular lens into the eye severely demands a medically acceptable and surgically and technologically feasible method of implanting the lens in the eye. The above described and other prior art devices have utilized various methods of fastening the lens in the eye. Generally speaking, anterior chamber lenses of the prior art are placed between the iris and the cornea, and are fastened therebetween by a number of loops or clips composed of a material having reasonable compatability with the eye tissue.
Otter U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,551 describes an anterior chamber intraocular lens which is provided with a pair of loops extending below the lens in a plane substantially parallel with the plane of a lower flat side of the lens. The loops of the Otter lens are surgically inserted below the iris and are held in a fixed position by a stave. One end of the stave is mounted into the lens while the other end is lead through a surgical incision in the iris and is designed to engage one of the loops and thereby hold the lens in a relatively fixed position in the eye.
As it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art an acceptable intraocular lens must satisfy, among others, the following requirements; it must be made from a material which is compatible with the eye tissue, and it must be sufficiently well fixed in position in the eye so that forces generated by movement of the person wearing the implanted lens should not dislodge the lens from its desired fixed position. Furthermore, the design of the intraocular lens must provide optimal conditions for the delicate procedure of surgically implanting the lens in the eye. Some of the disadvantages suffered by the prior art lenses lie in the fact that they do not satisfy one or more of the above requirements. More particularly some of the prior art devices have a relatively large surface in contact with the eye tissue thereby causing undue irritation, while other prior art lenses do not provide optimum conditions for the surgical implantation process.
As it can be readily appreciated from the above, the prior art is still seeking to provide an optimized artificial intraocular lens that can minimize or resolve the prior art problems and further simplify the surgical implantation of the lens with a minimal attendant possibility of damage of the patient.